Lorenzo returns to Assen with hopes of racing

Lorenzo returns to Assen on Friday

Friday, 28 June 2013

After undergoing an operation for a broken collarbone in Barcelona during the early hours of Friday morning, Jorge Lorenzo has returned to Assen and plans to undergo a medical examination on Saturday morning with the hope of competing in the race.

The already dramatic race weekend was given a new twist when the Yamaha Factory Racing rider returned to the historic venue on Friday afternoon. The reigning World Champion, who broke his left collarbone in a heavy crash on Thursday afternoon, this morning received medical clearance to fly. He promptly boarded a privately charted flight from Barcelona, landing at Groningen Airport at 5pm.

The Mallorcan, highly keen to compete in the seventh round of the season, will head to the Medical Centre for his check-up at 8am local time (GMT +2) on Saturday.

“The collarbone was in three pieces,” Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manager for Yamaha Factory Racing, explained to motogp.com. “They did a great job in Barcelona. The collarbone is very stable, so that means he can move around without actually moving it, so that is a good thing but he is very tired at the moment. He took the decision (to return) quite soon. A collarbone is a collarbone - it’s not a knee or an elbow or a wrist, which are much more important for riding the bike.”

When asked if there is a fear of further injuries for Lorenzo, Zeelenberg replied:

“Yes, of course we need to judge this very carefully, but these riders are risking a lot every race - even to win as he did at Mugello and Barcelona takes a lot of risk. To risk a little bit less tomorrow and finish the race is maybe not such a big risk for him…if he crashes tomorrow or within two weeks it will be the same result - a drama - but it will be like this for the rest of the season because the plate will stay inside (the collarbone) for a year.”

Should he be declared fit to race, Lorenzo will start from 12th on the grid. Despite not having set a lap time in Q2, he was officially entered into the pole shootout courtesy of his overall fastest time from across the opening trio of practice sessions; his leading FP1 time was not beaten in either FP2 or FP3, as both took place amid adverse weather conditions.